Month: August 2019

SBTC camps draw 4,098 students across five weeks

GLORIETA, N.M. When dozens of unusually subdued young people swarmed the chapel platform at to profess faith in Jesus Christ, recommit themselves to a daily walk with God or to confirm his leadership to serve in a vocational ministry—it was obvious the Holy Spirit chose to move in an unprecedented way three days into M3 camp. 

Typically, morning gatherings at the camp are characterized by loud and exuberant musical interludes where, well, teens will be teens. But on Thursday, July 18, associate student evangelism director Garrett Wagoner and the camp staff were impressed by God to offer an invitation for repentance and revival, he said.

So the youth kept coming.

“That was really a deep movement of God where God was doing so many things.., he said. “Students were lined up all day to get counseling from leaders and speakers; one camp pastor ministered to almost 2 a.m.”

The last week of the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention M3 camps was already a success in terms of attendance. More than 1,735 teens and youth leaders registered for M3 at Glorieta Adventure Camp near Santa Fe, N.M. That number represents the largest teen camp in SBTC history at Glorieta, as compared to 1,615 in 2018. 

At all three M3 sites last year, the total number of campers was 2,865. This year’s 3,858 students bumped that number much higher with an additional week of camp at one site. The total number of decisions spiked to 684, compared to last year’s 591, an increase of 115 percent, with the number of reported salvations about the same at 170. When you factor in the kids attending the SBTC’s later Youth Camp for Hispanics, and the 13 who were saved there, all SBTC camps cumulatively involved 4,098 participants, with 188 marking the summer of ’19 as the day their lives were changed for eternity.

M3 Camps intentionally give students opportunities for “clearly hearing the gospel,” according to Wagoner. Its focus on “Moment, Mission and Movement” challenges teens to live evangelistically in their own communities and in the world at large. The camps promote breakout sessions geared to facilitating students to grow in their knowledge of and relationship to Christ. Small groups inspire teens to gather and talk about challenges and struggles, to pray, and to get to know and encourage each other. 

Teens and their leaders headed to one of three scenic sites this year: the Hill Country, South Texas, and just across the western border of Texas at Glorieta where groups from New Mexico, Louisiana, and Colorado also joined campers. Group recreation and a slew of breakout sessions on contemporary issues dominated afternoons.  

Sammy Lopez, a platform speaker from San Antonio who pastors Mighty Fortress Christian Fellowship, said the breakout sessions were outstanding and the girls in his group attended one on sex and sexuality.

“It really did help our girls to see their worth and value in Christ,” Lopez said, commenting on social media and the “lies” it generates.

Lopez said he believes the camp has motivated his students to the point that they set goals for when they return home; and the practice of keeping groups together rather than separating them according to grade level has had a unifying effect.

“That’s important,” Lopez said. “We have focused on “the seriousness of God. A lot of camps [are not]. Here they hit you right in the face.”

During worship Thursday, Lopez challenged campers to find their identity in Christ instead of changing genders or any of the myriad of things they regularly confront. 

Space is limited so churches hoping to attend 2020 camps are encouraged to plan early. Call 877-953-SBTC for more information or contact Wagoner regarding M3 dates of June 15-19 at Highland Lakes, June 22-26 at Zephyr, July 6-10 at Highland Lakes and July 14-18 at Glorieta. The Hispanic Youth Week will be held at River Bend Retreat Center in Glen Rose, Aug. 3-7.

For some adults who accompanied youth from their churches, Glorieta brought back memories of their own retreats into the mountains of northeastern New Mexico half a century ago. The pews, the stained glass and even the stars in the universe haven’t changed a bit.

And when nearly 2,000 voices combined to sing, “How Great Thou Art”, there was no age, gender or ethnic barrier. SBTC camps served as a platform for God’s power to be displayed throughout the universe.

As the visiting senior adult leader put it, “It only takes a spark.” 

Full circle: faithfulness and love, 50 years later

HENDERSON It was 1961, the same year in U.S. history that the American Civil Rights Movement launched a series of protests against segregation called Freedom Rides. These protests were led by blacks and whites who rode buses together throughout America.

This is also the same year that Turnertown Baptist Church, under the leadership of Pastor Warren McAllister, reached out to an all-black congregation called Midway Baptist and invited their children to Turnertown’s Vacation Bible School. It was at this event that Frannie Rettig (pictured above) received her first Bible.   

“We thought it was wonderful!” Rettig said about the very first VBS any of the children from Midway had the opportunity to attend. “We had VBS for five days where we were able to learn about the Bible. I was even able to memorize all 66 books! The people of Turnertown were truly Christians who loved people like Jesus taught us to love,” she continued.

Fifty-eight years later Rettig returned to Turnertown, this time in a new capacity. It was July 3, of this year when Rettig walked up to a young lady with a check for $300. Unsure what to do with it, the young lady took it to the man who had been a part of Turnertown Baptist Church for half a century, the music minister. “I was down the hall trying to ‘fix’ the DVD player when the young lady from the church walked up to me with an envelope that had $300 in it,” Albert Richards recalled. “I had to meet this person so I ran out to see Frannie in her car, about to drive off.”

“I’ve been wanting to do this for 50 years but I’ve been working as an instructor in San Antonio,” Rettig said.

This prompted a conversation that sparked one of Richards’ passions—history. He went into the office to find an old photo of that same VBS back in 1961. “Are you in this picture?” Richards asked. Rettig’s eyes scanned the photo to find herself as a young soon-to-be freshman in high school on the first step on the right-hand side of the photo standing among over 20 of the children from Midway.

Astonished, Rettig stated “I remember taking the picture but I never thought I’d see it!”

Richards couldn’t help but get excited. “Although I wasn’t at Turnertown at this time, but was pastoring at Southside Baptist Church in Henderson, we have such a rich history here and I’m just delighted to be a small part of it,” he said.

Now 81 years old Richards attended Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in the 1950s, but did not graduate. He cited two reasons for not finishing–one, he ran out of money, and two, he was unmarried. Richards, still a bachelor today, has not let his lack of a degree or a wife keep him from serving the Lord at Turnertown as a music minister and historian for 50 consecutive years.

“We need to save our church history for future generations,” Richards said with conviction. In this case the saving of his church history tells a story of the faithful love and compassion of his church during a time of turmoil in this nation. “My church has always had a heart for missions,” Richards said, “and for a church the size of Turnertown we are in the top 5 percent of giving in the SBC.”

When asked about why he thinks Richards has been so faithful in service to Turnertown for the past 50 years, current pastor Joe Wiley said, “He doesn’t see this as a job, he sees it as a family. A man can’t deny his family–which is why he’s been around for so long.”

Richards said, “I’ve seemed to come in the side door instead of the front door because I’ve never graduated from seminary and I’ve never been married, but I love my church.” He continued, “I have to say my encounter with Frannie is one of the best memories I’ve had because it connects our church with the history we have of evangelism.”

Turnertown has found a faithful man in Albert Richards. Richards meeting Rettig brought past and present together as they celebrated Mr. Richards’ 50 years of service on August 18, and the love of a congregation for the children of a sister church. Frannie Rettig attended the celebration.

REVIEW: “Angry Birds 2” is awful ¦ and not kid-friendly

His name is “Red,” and his name and feather colors fit his mood. Angry? Perhaps. Unforgiving? Yes? Self-centered? Definitely.

Red lives on Bird Island, a place where birds live in constant threat of attacks from their enemies and animal counterparts, the pigs on Pig Island.

The pigs, of course, see things a little differently. If it weren’t for the birds, they say, the world would be a better place.

Neither side, though, has ever seen an attack that didn’t deserve a response. 

Turn the other cheek? Not here.

So when the birds shoot a bottle of hot sauce across the water that explodes on Pig Island, the pigs retort by popping the birds’ balloons (by using a magnifying glass ray, of course). Then the birds respond by sparking a man-made tsunami that crashes onto Pig Island, and the pigs answer by dropping thousands of small crabs onto Bird Island.

If only the birds and pigs could find a common enemy to fight together.

That’s exactly what happens when an ice volcano on a third island starts launching “ice bombs” at the other two pieces of land. The mastermind behind these cold explosives is an opinionated bird named Zeta, who has a plan to destroy the inhabitants of Bird and Pig Islands so she can live and relax on both.

It will take a team effort to defeat her. But can the birds and pigs get along?

The film The Angry Birds Movie 2(PG) opened this week, starring Jason Sudeikis (The Angry Birds Movie) as Red, Leslie Jones (Ghostbusters, 2016) as Zeta, and Rachel Bloom (Crazy Ex-Girlfriend) as the bird Silver.

It and its 2016 predecessor are spinoffs of the popular Angry Birdsvideo game franchise.

Both Angry Birdsmovies, though, lack entertainment value (each received a B CinemaScore from moviegoers, a rock-bottom score for an animated film). More significantly, though, they fall far short of being kid-friendly.

The newest Angry Birds 2movie includes: a scene of a pig taking selfies of his rear end and shirtless torso in front of the mirror, a scene and a joke about two birds making out, a lengthy scene of a bird urinating in a urinal, a scene of a pig in a thong, a scene of a pig in spandex as we hear Right Said Fred’s I’m Too Sexy, and more posterior and poop jokes than you can count. It also has minor language.  

It is one of the least kid-friendly animated films I’ve seen. It’s as if three random fourth-grade boys wrote the script.  

That’s too bad, because its core message — reconciliation, teamwork and humility — are positive lessons children need to hear.

Unless your children are mega-mature, I’d skip it.

Warning: minor/moderate spoilers!

(Scale key: none, minimal, moderate, extreme)

Violence/Disturbing

Minor/moderate. The pigs and birds open the film by playing a tit-for-tat game of trying to destroy the other’s island, although most of the violent “acts” are silly (the birds shoot hot sauce at the pigs; the pigs drop crabs on Bird Island). Zeta tortures her engineer by freezing his legs and arms in blocks of ice. She freezes a dog, too. A bird gets accidentally knocked out in a restroom.

Sexuality/Sensuality/Nudity

Minor/moderate. Red goes to a speed dating event because it’s “mating season.” A pig enjoying a hot spring bath with others stands up, revealing a thong. Leonard the pig is showing slides in a film room, preparing for battle, when inappropriate pictures of him pop up on the screen. We hear one of them is a “butt shot.” (We see him taking pictures of his rear end.) Red and Silver accidentally fall on one another when other pigs and birds walk in and assuming they were kissing — or something else. (“Yeah they were,” someone says while taking a picture.) A pig gets “plan X” confused for “spandex” and wears the latter. (We then hear the song, I’m Too Sexy.) We learn Zeta and another eagle had a baby chick after their wedding day was called off. (The chick says: “That’s my father?”) The pigs don’t wear pants, and multiple times the film makes jokes about their posteriors.

Coarse Language

Minor. The film is full of words that many households don’t let their young children (or older children) say. OMG is said three times and drawn out for effect. Other words parents may want to know about: heck (3), stupid (3), butts (3), idiot (2), gosh (2), crap (1). We also year “are you freaking kidding me?” and “don’t screw this up.” A baby chick curses, although it’s fully bleeped out.

Other Stuff You Might Want To Know

We learn Zeta’s ex-fiance abandoned her on their wedding day. The film includes multiple songs from the 1980s and 1990s.

Life Lessons

Reconciliation is always possible: The pigs and birds — former enemies — become friends once they get to know one another. They become a team.

No one enjoys an arrogant person: A self-centered Red teams up with a few birds and pigs to defeat Zeta, but he rejects all their ideas. Soon, they want to abandon him.

Humility is a secret to happiness: When Red puts others first, his life improves. Others like him more. They make progress on beating Zeta. He’s happier, too.     

Worldview/Application

Humility is one of the trademarks of the Christian. God “opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble” (James 4:6). His Word commands us to have “unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love” and a “tender heart” — but these are possibly only if we have a “humble mind” (1 Peter 3:8).

Christ — the creator of the universe — was humble. He expects the same of his children. 

What Works

The plot’s core story is interesting. It could haveworked. Sadly, the filmmakers went for cheap laughs. 

What Doesn’t

I laughed out loud three to four times. But most of the film is 90 minutes of inappropriate nonsense. 

Discussion Questions

1. Is there someone in your life you need to forgive? Do you need reconciliation?

2. Why does God want us to be humble?

3. What caused Red to change his outlook on life?

4. Did you think Angry Birds 2 had too much potty humor? Why or why not?

Entertainment rating:2 out of 5 stars. Family-friendly rating:3.5 out of 5 stars.

Rated PG for rude humor and action. 

SBTC DR feeding volunteers assist at El Paso crisis center: “The feel of it is really amazing”

EL PASO   Within a few days of the tragic Aug. 3 shootings at an El Paso Walmart that claimed 22 lives, Southern Baptists of Texas Convention Disaster Relief feeding volunteers headed to the area to support Salvation Army efforts serving first responders, victims’ advocates and other crisis personnel.

The first SBTC DR volunteers arrived Aug. 7, including Ronnie and Connie Roark of Salem-Sayers Baptist Church near San Antonio. The Roarks frequently man SBTC’s quick response kitchen, but for this deployment they left the quick response unit behind and drove to El Paso to help staff the Salvation Army’s mobile kitchen.

The Salvation Army feeding unit was moved from the Cielo Vista Mall, near the Walmart, to the El Paso Convention Center, where city and county authorities have established a grief counseling and support center.

Local restaurants, businesses and grocery stores are sending over meals, snacks, bottled water and supplies, so the Roarks at first busied themselves with replenishing the food and snack tables and making coffee for first responders and others at the convention center.

“I guess you could call us hosts and hostesses,” Connie Roark told the TEXAN several days after arriving. “We are making people feel welcome.”

When the expected lunch delivery did not occur on Aug. 8, the Roarks joined United Way and Salvation Army volunteers and staff to make sandwiches.

Tom Mathis of Flint Baptist Church arrived to assist the Roarks that same day. Another feeding team from Flint Baptist was due to rotate in next week to relieve the volunteers, SBTC DR Director Scottie Stice confirmed.

Roark described the atmosphere at the convention center as “very calm,” adding, “They have lots of support people here. They are all pulling together. The feel of it is really amazing.

“We were the advance team—just to be here to help any way we could,” she said.

The team started preparing meals in the Salvation Army’s mobile kitchen Aug. 9, cooking enchilada dinners for 200, Ronnie Roark said. The feeding volunteers will continue preparing lunches and dinners.

“We are so saddened by this horrific crime in El Paso but we praise God for this opportunity to serve and ask God’s blessings upon El Paso and upon the victims and their families,” Stice told the TEXAN, referring not only to the feeding volunteers, but also to SBTC DR chaplains who have arrived to help.

SBTC DR chaplains share hope in El Paso

EL PASO   Four veteran Disaster Relief chaplains from the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention packed quickly to drive from different regions of the state to El Paso to minister to victims, families and the community following the Aug. 3 shootings at the Cielo Vista Walmart.

The four men, all pastors, arrived in El Paso on Aug. 7 and began to serve.

None is new to helping others deal with tragedy and grief.

Gordon Knight of Bryan, SBTC director of chaplains and pastor at Christ’s Way Baptist Church, responded to deadly shootings at Sutherland Springs Baptist Church in 2017 and Santa Fe High School in 2018.

“There’s nothing that we can do that will help except extend a listening ear and a sympathetic heart and empathy,” Knight told KBTX-TV in Bryan-College Station in an Aug. 6 televised interview while traveling to El Paso.

“When people see the uniform, they ask about who we are,” Knight said. “We can start telling them that we’re chaplains, and we’re here to listen and pray with you—whatever you need to help you get through this.

“Ours is a ministry of presence,” Knight told KBTX. “Having people tell their stories can be very therapeutic and very healing.”

Accompanying Knight were chaplains Dennis Parish of Conroe’s The Church at 242, Terry Bunch of East Side Baptist Church in Haskell and Mike Flanagan from First Baptist Church Whitesboro.

“We’re trying to help folks as they walk through this time of struggle and grief and providing direction and resources,” Parish told KHOU-TV.

“We’ll just ask them to tell us their story, where they were, what they felt, what emotions they had. And to be able to encourage them, share some Scripture with them and be able to pray for them,” Flanagan said in an interview with Texoma’s KXII-TV.

“When you’re at your lowest time is when you need somebody to come along and encourage you, and remind you that there are good things out there that are possible, and that there’s a God who cares about you and people who care about you,” Bunch told Abilene’s KTAB news.

The men have been busy since arriving in the Sun City, dividing into two teams to visit the Cielo Vista Mall, local churches and area hospitals.

Bunch and Flanagan, who is fluent in Spanish, met and prayed with the family of girls’ soccer coach Guillermo (Memo) Garcia at Del Sol Medical Center. Garcia remained in intensive care while his wife, Jessica, also a victim, was released from the hospital and joined the family waiting at Del Sol.

The Garcias were helping at a sports fundraising booth at the Walmart entrance when the gunman struck, shooting Jessica three times in the leg and Memo twice in the back and once in the leg.

“She was shot outside, tied off her leg with some kind of tourniquet, ran inside the Walmart and found her [wounded] husband,” Flanagan said.

Jessica told the chaplains she said to Memo, “I’ve got to find the children.”

“Go find them,” Garcia replied.

Flanagan said that others from the soccer team had located the kids and kept them safe, and that family members were caring for the children now.

The chaplains had less success visiting victims at the University Medical Center of El Paso, where families and staff, exhausted from media attention and presidential entourages, were requesting privacy on Aug. 8.

Bunch told the TEXAN that he and Flanagan had an appointment to see about gaining access to UMC to offer counseling and prayer. Thus far neither he nor Flanagan have found local hospitals to be staffed with chaplains.

In the meantime, as they walked corridors at various medical centers, nurses spied the large “chaplain” designation on their yellow SBTC DR shirts and asked them to talk to other patients and their families, which they have done.

Bunch also received a text message from a DR colleague, asking him to check on her daughter’s friend Marissa, the manager of a flooring store near the Walmart.

“When Marissa saw our yellow shirts, she knew who we were,” Flanagan said. Marissa was trained in DR but hadn’t asked her employees how they were doing following the violence. She asked the chaplains to talk with her staff.

“We had a great 15-minute conversation and prayed with six people, mostly millennials,” Flanagan said.

While Bunch and Flanagan were talking with the group, a customer and her mother approached.

The customer reminded the chaplains that they had assisted her at the Wednesday evening prayer vigil held at the memorial outside Cielo Vista Mall, helping her negotiate the crowd with her wheelchair-bound father.

“She hugged us. We prayed for her and she prayed for us,” Flanagan said.

The chaplains attended the prayer vigil at the invitation of college students they met at the mall’s food court earlier that day. The pastors planned to return to the memorial that night with 60 stuffed animals with gospel tracts attached to help open conversations and provide comfort. 

In addition to visiting churches, the chaplains were planning to be a visible presence at the start of school Monday at Immanuel Baptist Church’s Immanuel Christian School, near the Walmart.

The chaplains expect to serve in El Paso for about a week.

SBTC DR Director of Chaplains Gordon Knight recommended the following five responses to crises such as the El Paso shootings, in an interview with KHOU-TV:

  1. Trust law enforcement and the instructions they provide.
  2. In situations like this, the state and cities will provide counselors, so use them. In fact the national disaster distress helpline offers immediate crisis counseling to people affected by mass shootings. The number is 1-800-985-5990.
  3. If your kids are anxious or worried, get them to talk to a school counselor.
  4. Talk about your feelings with people who are empathetic to the situation.
  5. Spend time with someone you trust.

REVIEW: “Dora and the Lost City of Gold” delivers great messages—and a solid role model

Dora is an optimistic and outgoing teenager girl who has spent her entire life in the South American jungle.

She’s played with snakes. She’s talked to monkeys. She’s swung from branch to branch, exploring everything there is to see. She lovesit there.

But things are about to change. Her mother gets a new job. And then Dora is moved to an environment — California — she doesn’t recognize or understand. And then she enters high school, a cynical place where teenagers definitely don’tshare her bubbly outlook on life.

Will Dora be able to influence her high school classmates for the better? Or will her classmates changeher?

The live-action Nickelodeon movie Dora and the Lost City of Gold(PG) opens this weekend, telling the story of the popular fictional character who is best-known from the animated educational series Dora the Explorer.It stars Isabela Moner (Instant Family) as Dora, Eva Longoria (Dog Days) as her mother and Michael Peña (Ant-Manseries) as her father.

The movie follows Dora as she navigates high school — going to class (she loves literature), eating in the cafeteria (mac & cheese is her favorite) and dancing awkwardly at the school dance — before she and three classmates are kidnapped and taken back to South America. It seems Dora’s parents knew the location of a lost city of gold, and the bad guys want Dora to lead them to her mom and dad.  

Dora and the Lost City of Goldincludes elements from several great films: the hilarious naivety from Elf, the contagious optimism in Paddington, and the history-based exploration from Raiders of the Lost Ark. It’s a clean version of Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle(which I didn’t like). 

It also provides girls a great role model who has multiple qualities I’d want my daughter to emulate.    

Yes, the film is quirky and even goofy at times, but it’s a funny and mostly family-friendly film that my two oldest children (ages 11 and 7) enjoyed.

Warning: minor/moderate spoilers!

(Scale key: none, minimal, moderate, extreme)

Violence/Disturbing

Minimal. Teenagers are kidnapped in a crate and taken to South America on a plane. Dora and her classmates are chased and shot at with darts. They get stuck in quicksand. They nearly drown, and they think they’re going to die. They’re nearly killed again in a temple when the walls close in on them and a ceiling with sharp points collapses. But nothing is graphic, and comedy is just beneath the surface of every scene. It would disturb only the most sensitive children. Most older kids and tweens would consider it tame.

Sexuality/Sensuality/Nudity

Minimal. Two teenagers kiss. (Dora’s not one of them.) We hear discussion of animals mating.

Coarse Language

Minimal. Two barely heard OMGs. Two instances of “gosh” and two unfinished “what the.” Four instances of “shut up.” The rest of the language involves name-calling: “disco Dorka” and “Dorka,” for example.

Other Positive Elements

Dora loves her parents, and they love her, too. 

Dora is the type of female role model few films offer. She optimistic. She’s encouraging to others. She sees the best in people. She’s humble. She’s a leader who learns. Eventually, she wins over her friends. It’s also worth noting that the film doesn’t sexualize Dora, as happens too often in Hollywood movies.

Other Stuff You Might Want To Know

Dora dances, but not inappropriately. (It’s so goofy it embarasses her cousin, Diego.)

She and her friends get stuck in quicksand, resulting in sounds that emulate the sound of flatulation.

Her female classmate, Sammy, uses the restroom in the jungle. Dora helps by digging a hole and inventing a song about making a “poo hole” in the ground.

Life Lessons

Optimism is infectious: Dora was ridiculed in school for her cheery personality, but it influenced everyone for the better. The contrast between her and her snobby classmates is striking. Who would you rather hang out with? The answer is obvious.

Bullying is ugly: We briefly see a student shoved up against the lockers. We hear Dora called several ugly names for her intellect and background. The bullies were trying to be cool. Ironically, through, they were the ones who looked foolish. Proverbs 18:2 says: “A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his opinion.”

Everyone needs encouraged. Dora grows discourages a couple of times. Her friends, especially Diego, cheer her up.

Worldview

The plot involves Incan traditions and myths that turn out to be true. We watch an elderly woman transformed into a young queen. We hear discussion of Incan gods. When things go bad, the queen tells everyone that the gods were “angered.” We watch Dora appease these gods by restoring a statuette to its original location.

What Works

Isabela Moner as Dora. She’s marvelous. The humor stays in the family-friendly realm, even if it does include discussions of “poo.”

What Doesn’t

Some of the humor is awkward.

Discussion Questions

1. Do you enjoy being around people like Dora? Why or why not?

2. Name five positive characteristics of Dora. Which characteristic do you need to emulate?

3. What is the key to stopping bullying?

4. Why are cliques so popular? Are cliques biblical or unbiblical?

5. Dora says if “you believe in yourself, anything is possible.” Is that true?

Entertainment rating:3.5 out of 5 stars. Family-friendly rating:4 out of 5 stars.

Rated PG for action and some impolite humor.

McAllen’s Baptist Temple ministers to migrants during border crisis

McALLEN—A Rio Grande Valley multi-campus Southern Baptist church has been making a difference during the current border crisis, one weekend at a time.

When the local migrant release overnight shelter run by Catholic Charities was overwhelmed in late April as the volume of applicants requesting asylum skyrocketed, the McAllen city manager’s office approached Baptist Temple for emergency help.

BT quickly agreed to transform an otherwise busy student building on its McAllen campus into an overnight shelter from Thursday to Monday that weekend. The first group of migrants was bused to Baptist Temple by the city on May 16. The church then offered its facilities the first weekend of each month as needed.

To date, BT has welcomed migrant overflow groups for five nights in May and June and one night in July. The church stood ready to host migrants the first weekend in August also, but the Catholic Charities shelter was below capacity.

“The flow [of migrants] has definitely been reduced, at least for now,” Marshall Johnston, BT executive pastor, told the TEXAN, adding that the church will remain on standby in coming months with a team ready to minister.

“If we get the word, [the team] will have to come very quickly and set up the cots,” Johnston said. “We might see an uptick in crossings. Who knows what’s going to come? This could be a summer lull.”

From May to July, groups sheltering at BT numbered from 70-90 and changed nightly. They were welcomed, offered clean clothes and undergarments and given a chance to take a shower and get some rest, Johnston said.

In preparation for the migrants, the church converted its student building to a temporary shelter with a large room for sleeping, a kitchen/snack area for serving meals, tables for eating, a sizeable classroom for distributing clothing and other necessities and an isolation area for migrants who arrived ill.

“The whole student building is taken over,” Johnston said.

“Each night we present the gospel as well. We have seen several make decisions for Christ,” Baptist Temple pastor Chris Dupree wrote in an email to Tony Wolfe, director of pastor/church relations of the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention.

“Every night it was new faces, new names and a new group of people that we were able to share the gospel with,” P.J. Garza, ministry assistant to Johnston, told the TEXAN.

Among those sharing Christ in Spanish were various BT pastors and shelter director Roger Astudillo, once an undocumented migrant himself who came to the U.S. as a child with his parents in the early 1980s. Roger became a citizen following Ronald Reagan’s 1986 amnesty proclamation.

“Roger has a great story and a real heart for the migrants,” Johnston said.

A plus for the church is that BT has developed a “nice cadre” of enthusiastic volunteers ready to serve migrants, Johnston added, explaining that plans were in the works for members to offer assistance at the Catholic Charities facility even if BT is not being used as a shelter.

“We would like to go and minister and pray,” Johnston said.

The migrant ministry at Baptist Temple “has been a partnership,” Johnston stressed, explaining that when the church was asked by the city to be a shelter, the Red Cross stepped in to provide hygiene packs and 80 cots.

The organization Convoy of Hope brought pallets of supplies, including hygiene packs and diapers, to the Valley Baptist Retreat Center in Mission, and BT picked up items there. Plano’s Prestonwood Church also sent a donation to defray expenses, which have largely fallen upon BT itself, Johnston said.

The church is willing to make the sacrifice, but should the city continue to call upon BT for assistance, extra funding may prove helpful, the pastor added.

“We are doing what we think God is calling us to do,” Johnston affirmed, noting that other churches are equally or even more fully engaged than BT. “West Brownsville Baptist is basically doing what Catholic Charities does. We are more of an ancillary. They are doing more of the heavy lifting in terms of meeting the need.”

Still, BT is doing what it can, and by limiting its shelter availability to the first weekend of each month, the church is able to continue its vibrant student ministry and still serve migrants and the city.

“We knew this need was going to be ongoing. We assumed it would be indefinite, not like a flood or disaster where we might house people for a few weeks or months. We knew this could go on and on,” Johnston said, explaining that to avoid volunteer fatigue and enable the church to stay involved for “the long haul,” BT chose to pace itself.

“Our motives are to help our neighbor, to be good citizens and good neighbors and to share the gospel,” Johnston said.

BT is doing that, one long weekend at a time.

“BT has an incredible testimony reaching the migrants in the Rio Grande Valley,” Scottie Stice, SBTC director of disaster relief, said. “We are so pleased to hear about this. SBTC DR stands by ready to help when they need it.”

So. Baptists respond to ‘horrific’ acts of violence

EL PASO—As two mass shootings over the weekend brought the total to three such tragedies in just over a week, Baptists prayed, met needs and called for an urgent look at how white supremacy can “fuel” violence.

The shootings—all committed by young men—took the lives of 34 people across three cities. In El Paso, Texas, a 21-year-old man is in custody after a shooting in a Walmart left 22 people dead and 26 others injured on Saturday (Aug. 3). Then early Sunday morning (Aug. 4), a 24-year old gunman killed nine in a nightlife district of Dayton, Ohio.

Those victims were added to the three killed at the Gilroy Garlic Festival in California by a 19-year-old gunman July 28.

Southern Baptists are responding in the aftermath of the violence to minister to those affected. In El Paso, volunteers with Texas Baptist Men set up at a local shopping center to serve first responders and families affected. And Southern Baptists of Texas Convention Disaster Relief is sending a group of chaplains to El Paso, the group reported Monday afternoon.

Baptist churches from around the area also gathered Aug. 4 at First Baptist Church of El Paso for a prayer service that drew more than 400 people.

“Our intent is to say our churches stand together, and we want the community to know that,” FBC Pastor Mark Rotramel said. “This is not about our churches, but the Church.”

Jim Richards, executive director of the SBTC, expressed grief over the killings and a “pervasive evil” motivating such crimes.

“Racism, however it is expressed, is a blasphemy against the one true God whose image all women and men bear,” Richards told Baptist Press. “The idea that one race is inherently superior to another, whether it is called white supremacy or some other label, is unbiblical. The apostle Peter discovered at the house of Cornelius, as described in Acts 10, that God is no respecter of persons.

“Pastors of Southern Baptists of Texas Convention affiliated churches in the El Paso area are reaching out to their neighbors in the aftermath of this tragedy,” Richards said. “The SBTC staff is mobilized to help those churches share the love and comfort of Christ.”

Steve Stiglich, associational missionary for the Greater Dayton Association of Baptists, said he has reached out to the mayor in his city to offer support in any way officials might need it.

“At this time, we’ve been praying and been on standby,” Stiglich said. “We ask for prayer for our first responders and medical staff who have been dealing with the injured, for our officials and the victims and families as they work through this.”

A prayer vigil was held Aug. 4 in downtown Dayton, and protestors also gathered there to draw attention to racist issues brought to the surface again over the weekend. After the El Paso shooting’s young white male suspect was taken into custody, law enforcement found a racist, anti-immigrant document they believe he wrote and they say has a “nexus to a potential hate crime,” CNN reported.

Ronnie Floyd, president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Executive Committee, told BP, “I think both El Paso and Dayton represent our most recent illustrations that every person in this world needs Jesus and they need Jesus now.

“And that we need to do everything we can to advance the Gospel to every person in the world and to make disciples of all the nations,” he said. “That’s why we’re praying for the presence of God to be with every family that has lost a loved one and been directly impacted by this tragedy. And the presence of God will be with every first responder, every technician at a hospital, to a nurse, to a doctor and to all of our pastors and churches that are serving in those areas. May God’s presence be with them and may the Lord use this in our country to call us back to God.”

Other Christian leaders also took to social media to call out racism and white supremacy. Among them was Adam W. Greenway, president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, who tweeted Aug. 4 denouncing the alleged motive behind the shooting.

“As president of @SWBTS, I want to be clear that we condemn in the strongest possible form any and all ideologies of racial/ethnic superiority/inferiority that fuel the kind of hate evidently motivating the #ElPaso shooter to commit such a horrific act of violence in our state,” he wrote.

R. Albert Mohler Jr., president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, said on The Briefing podcast Aug. 5, “These headlines come again and again.” He noted that repeated crises of this nature bring up a lot of worldview questions, such as how an assault can happen or who would commit such a crime.

“We are facing a very serious mental health crisis, and we now lack the cultural will and for that matter even the legal mechanisms to deal with many of these threats,” he said, noting that an even bigger issue is our lack of ability to read the human heart and the evil it holds.